There's an air of levity, and of effective writing, without which the book would have been more impressive and convincing; don't you think so?
And here we get to the heart of most of the difficulties of the subject.

Why do we make no quicker advances, do you say?
Why are our communications chiefly trivial?
Why, but because we ourselves are trivial, and don't bring serious souls and concentrated attentions and holy aspirations to the spirits who are waiting for these things?
Spirit comes to spirit by affinity, says Swedenborg; but our cousinship is not with the high and noble.

We try experiments from curiosity, just as children play with the loadstone; our ducks swim, but they don't get beyond that, and _won't_, unless we do better.

_To_ prove what I say, consider what you say yourself, that you couldn't manage to draw the same persons together again (these very persons being persuaded of the verity of the spiritual communications they were in reach of) on account of the difficulties of the London season.

Difficulties of the London season! The inconsequence of human nature is more wonderful to me than the ingress of any spirits could be.